Inner Dragon Self
by ShiraChan-Desu
Summary: AU. It was just a simple mission of searching for the sources of the increase of high reiatsu. Or was it? Knowing there is another reason why he was sent by the Head Captain into a school- into a new world full of Guardians, Shugo Charas, X-Eggs, and an Easter Company, he sets off to find his answers... with a new Guardian Character by his side. No pairings. Old Characters. HIATUS
1. Discussion

**Hellooo~! I'm SO SORRY if my story isn't all that exciting and entertaining, but PLEASE bear with me! This is my first time and all, but I'm going to try and create stories to the best of my ability. I may not be as good as my favorite authors, but I hope that I could improve along the way to be just like them! Now, presenting, my first fanfic story ever made!**

**Chapter 1**

Hinamori Amu closed her eyes and sighed into her tea. Ran, Miku, Su, and the other guardian characters continued to run around and yell at each other while playing tag. It was just another tiresome day in the Royal Garden after school. Hotori Tadase and Fujisake Nadeshiko were currently discussing theories of how the Easter Company would move while Soma Kukai and Yuiki Yaya were busy discussing who knows what. Yep, another normal day indeed…or so they thought. Amu sighed again.

She opened her eyes and immediately leaned back in her chair with a yelp. Yaya, now staring directly at Amu's face, noses several inches away, spoke.

"Something the matter, Amu-chi~?" she asked in her babyish voice. Kukai walked over.

"You seem very depressed," he stated with a serious face.

Amu leaned back in after giving Yaya a soft push to move away. She lifted her hands up while shaking her head. "I- Iie," she said giving a half-hearted smile. That didn't convince them. But they just decided to let go of that matter for now.

"Anyway, have you heard of the new transfer student?" Kukai asked his usual grin in place as he sat down.

She didn't. "Transfer student?" she asked, questioningly.

Having caught on to the conversation, Tadase nodded. "He's not in any of our classes, but rumors say that he's…" He paused, looking for the right word. "Different."

"I saw him, I saw him!" Yaya cheered. She put a finger to her cheek and looked upwards, thinking. "About Amu-chi's height…" She pointed at Amu. She paused for a few minutes, apparently forgotten the rest. They sweat-dropped and she rubbed her neck sheepishly. "Gomen, there was too many people."

Pepe came over to her aid. "He had white hair desu~! _White hair!_" she spoke through her pacifier, waving her little chibi arms.

Amu could practically see a light-bulb turn on over Yaya's head. "Yes, yes! He had _spiky_ white hair, and he had bluish greenish eyes~!" she crossed her arms together and nodded to herself in her best detective attitude.

"Eh?!" Amu and Kukai looked shocked, but Kukai looked more interested. Tadase and Nadeshiko just looked immensely surprised. "Wait, how is that possible? Shouldn't only old people have grey hair?" Amu asked.

"Unless he died it," Tadase said thoughtfully. But he thought better of it and shook his head.

"Do you think that he's an albino?" Kukai wondered out loud.

"Iie, albinos have light pink eyes," Nadeshiko pointed out.

Yaya and Pepe crossed their arms in front of their chests in an X-formation. "Hold it!" Yaya cried out while Pepe copied her. Yaya held her finger out in a 'tsk' manner. "He didn't have grey hair, Amu-chi~! He had _white_ hair!" She corrected, pulling her hair for emphasis (though for some reason the ribbons didn't fall out). "But he doesn't seem like someone who is sad enough to dye his hair," she said, removing her hands and going back to her thoughtful composure.

"Hm? Why's that, Yaya?" Nadeshiko asked in her (AN: -cough- mostly) usual soft/melodic voice.

"He scared off the bad guys, desu~!" Pepe exclaimed.

"THAT'S RIGHT!" Yaya seconded and showed how tall the 'bad guys' were. "The big bad guys were hurting a boy, but he came and scared them off! (AN: Sound familiar? If not, remember the first episode where it showed Amu. Kind of like that.) He was so nice! He even helped the boy to school~! (AN: Or not)" Yaya exclaimed, holding her hands clasped together in front of her and staring upwards, her eyes shining. "I want to meet him~!"

Everyone else exchanged glances.

Might as well do the same.

**So? So? How's it? How's it? XD I'm joking! I'm just going to be glad if you actually read this and/or review! Sorry it's so short, but I'm intending on making the next one much longer! ...Maybe. Nah, I'm joking! But I'm going to try my very best!**


	2. Of all X-Characters and Guardian Eggs

**I'm so bored, so I just decided to start this chapter just for the fun of it… but also because I couldn't get the chapter out of my mind. . Sorry if the chapter is not that good because I am a new writer! Anyways, onwards to chapter 2!**

_**Disclaimer: I do not own Bleach or Shugo Chara**_

**Chapter 2:**

"No."

"Demo, the dress was sooooo cute~!

"No."

"Mou, Taicho, please?"

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"No."

"Please with a cherry on top?"

"No."

"I'll do my paperwork when we get back home!"

A slight hesitation. "…no."

"Mou, Taicho, you're such a bore!"

"_Matsumoto_…" a familiar young-looking boy with white hair and teal eyes growled out to his tall, bubbly sub-ordinate in warning. The walk was just supposed to be a scouting trip for high reiatsu, but instead it turned out to be an argument between him and his, in his opinion, annoying fuku-taicho… about shopping, no less.

"Fine, fine," Matsumoto Rangiku said in a tone that said she wasn't going to let it entirely alone. They walked in silence for a few minutes.

"Ne, Taicho…"

"What?" Hitsugaya Toshiro muttered, clearly still annoyed, though he became rather suspicious after his well-endowed fuku-taicho leaned in slightly with a mischievous smile.

"…how's school?" she asked, a humorous glint in her eyes as her small Taicho froze and started fuming silently at her words.

"Matsumoto," he growled out. "Not another word of that. Lest you want to go home covered in ice."

Matsumoto instantly blanched. "No! Please, not that, Taicho! My hair will get ruined!" she practically begged in front of him.

The white-haired taicho scowled but moved around his lieutenant and continued walking. "No choice but to this on my own," he grumbled. As he said this, he searched for any high reiatsu in the area. Locating several, he immediately started running to the area, leaving behind a still begging, overdramatic Shinigami. Said Shinigami was now on her knees reaching out to the leaving figure in a dramatic scene while comically crying fake tears of sadness.

"Taicho~! Don't leave me~!" she half-heartedly cried out. His figure disappeared. Her present composure broke. She stood instantly and started half-skipping and half-walking to a nearby boutique with a satisfied smile on her face.

Meanwhile, Hitsugaya was running down the streets, but paused when he felt a different reiatsu coming from the same source. He stopped and focused harder. His eyes widened a fraction of an inch and he continued running, this time at a faster pace. _What is going on here?_ He thought.

When he reached his destination, the first thing he saw was the many human bodies littering the square. He stared silently in shock and noted that every single person was breathing, but that wasn't what also shocked him. What stunned the white-haired taicho was the empty looks every being held in their eyes- like their lives were sucked out of them and was left with emptiness, and above every single individual was a small amount of malevolent feeling reiatsu bunched up into tiny oval shaped containers. (AN: I'm just going to go with him not being able to see the eggs yet because he doesn't have a guardian character, but until then, he's going to be able to only identify them by the reiatsu their giving off- OOPS spoiler for my story…) Because of this, he didn't notice the melody until it rose in volume. Turning his head sharply towards the source of the sound, he noticed a tall figure standing in the moonlight under a small, circular performing stage.

His teal eyes adjusting to the moonlight, he observed that the figure had short, almost midnight blue hair, a slim figure, and currently playing an instrument he recognized as a violin. Just as he was about to open his mouth to speak, he felt a strange tug in the area where his heart was supposed to be. Looking down in shock and clutching the area, he didn't see anything unusual, but the tugging continued. He blinked. Soon, his vision was getting suddenly blurry and he heard a soft thud that he dimly was aware of his own knees buckled beneath him as dark thoughts entered his awareness. He fought against it with his own will, but it was proved useless as it continued to overcome his mind. Thoughts of hopelessness, loneliness, weakness, and failure to protect plagued his concentration and he found himself succumbing into the darkness of those unforgiving feelings.

The last thing he was dimly aware of was a bright pink light (AN: Guess who?) and across the square, a pair of piercing indigo eyes staring directly into his own until he lost consciousness.

After Character Changing into Amulet Heart and purifying many X-eggs, returning them to their rightful owner, she surveyed the area for the culprit, Tsukiyomi Ikuto, and realizing that he escaped, looked around for any more X-eggs. Instead, a flash of white in the darkness caught her eye and she hurried over to an unconscious figure lying face-first onto the ground.

Reaching the form, she stared silently in shock at a young boy, about her age, with _white_ hair and non-seeing, abnormal teal eyes. Concern overwhelming shock, she started shaking the white-haired youth in hopes of waking him up. However, she didn't notice something important until her guardian character pointed it out.

"_Amu-Chan, his Heart's Egg!" _Ran panicked in her mind.

That's when Amu noticed that his heart was empty- no sign of his heart egg- until she heard a distorted voice.

"They'll think I'm not strong enough."

Gasping slightly and turning abruptly towards the dusky sky, she found the lost egg- the lost X-Egg.

"They'll think I'm weak," the new X-Egg spoke, sorrowfully. A crack appeared. "That I'm not worthy." Another crack broke half of the egg.

"_Amu-Chan!" _Ran warned.

"This is bad," Amu muttered, but got ready to defend.

"THAT I CAN'T PROTECT!" the X-Egg screamed out, causing the shell to crack all the way through the middle. Several seconds passed, like calm before a storm. Then, the two halves broke apart from each other and out came, in all its glory, an X-Character. Just like all the other X-Characters they saw (AN: -cough- unfortunately), the X-Character was about the same size as a Guardian Character, except it had a huge, red X on its forehead, and, unlike the other X-characters, wearing a kimono-looking clothing that blends in with the skin color, and holding a tiny, miniature katana, also the same color as the skin of the X-character with both hands, holding them out in front of it. "I AM not strong enough!" it continued to shriek out. "I AM weak! _They're right_!" The X-Character swung it's katana towards the first person in its sight, Amu, and a slash of tainted black energy forms from the katana and speeds toward said person at an astonishing rate (AN: Kind of reminds me of Ichigo's Getsugatensho :o)

Amu widened her eyes and only just managed to shield herself using her pom-poms, but gets pushed back many feet, her feet grinding against the ground causing a long trail of dirt to billow, until she gets sent through the air and collides her back against a tree trunk with a painful cry. Her pom-poms steaming and her body exhausted and aching, she manages to lift her head and behold a long shallow cut in the ground surrounded by tainted purple ice.

The X-character continued shrieking obscenities of himself as he keeps slashing towards the sky, probably in hopes of cutting it open (AN: Which is impossible), apparently have forgotten of its first target.

With huge effort, she managed to finally stand, leaning on the tree for support, all the while panting heavily. "What should I do?" she breathed out, trying to think of a way out of the situation.

"_Open Heart, Amu-Chan!" _Ran demanded.

Still panting heavily, she continued to think. "But," Amu looked up towards the X-character still throwing a tantrum. She couldn't possibly be able to use it if it's capable of escaping. She would need to stun it or make it stay in place for a while. But how could she do that?

Just then, the X-character stopped.

Amu looked on in surprise.

Ever so slowly, the X-character descended until it was over six feet from the ground. Then, it started screeching in pain. Clutching its head, it writhed in mental agony as its katana disappeared and its restraint was breaking. "Y-yamero," it cried out, weakly. "YAMERO!" it said along with a voice that was certainly not its own.

If she had the time, Amu could have openly gaped by then. The boy was _fighting_ _against_ it! With a shout of encouragement from her Guardian Character, she shook her head and got into her stance.

"Negative Heart," she chanted, holding her hands in a heart shape in front of the Humpty Lock on her chest and pushing her hands outward. "Lock on!" A pink line of light flashed through the middle part of her 'heart' where her hands met and bright, sparkly, pink rays shot out through her hands and surrounded the X-character, who was still writhing in pain while holding it's X mark. "Open Heart!" The rays increased until the red X on the X-character's forehead broke and it wailed as it was consumed into the light.

Several seconds later, the light dimmed and exposed the white-haired youth's guardian character. This guardian character was wearing a light blue and white Shihakushō (AN: very similar to the Shin'ō Academy's uniform in Soul Society) with sock and sandals, and a light cerulean sheath holding a matching mini-katana (Or Mini-Zanpaktou) across the back. For an accessory, the male guardian character had a simple, yet exquisite, sapphire crystal necklace around his neck. Although what was most foreign about this new Guardian was, not the messy sapphire colored hair or the sapphire colored orbs, but the ice-crystal wings that donned the mini's back, spreading a few inches over his own height (AN: Think of Toshiro's Guardian Character as a Mini-Toshiro in Bankai form with only the wings, but with the hair and uniform in his days at the academy and slightly different color features. I just wanted to add the necklace because I thought it looked cool. Maybe it could be used for something important?)

After the silent staring contest, the guardian character flapped his wings once, and in an instant, was eye level with Amu half a foot away. Amu yelped and fell backward, barely noticing that she changed back into her casual clothes. After staring back at Amu with an expressionless face for a few moments, he finally let a genuine smile float up to the surface. "Arigato, stranger-san," the guardian spoke in a soft, but strong voice.

Snapping out of her stupor, she shook her head hurriedly. "I-Iie," she replied. "No need to thank me." She watched as his smile widened a bit further. "A-ano, are you really 'his' guardian character?" she asked, pointing at the white-haired youth lying on the ground.

He glanced at his owner before turning back to Amu. "Hai. I am his guardian character born from his hopes of being strong enough to be able to protect everyone around him," he responded. He gave a formal bow, causing her to flush slightly at being bowed to and in her 'impaired' state, she clumsily bowed back. He rose back up and gave a nod to her and her guardian characters around her. He gave a slight cocky grin. "I'm sure we'll meet again, stranger-san," he stated as two halves of his heart's egg appeared above and beneath him and slowly started closing together. "Jaa Ne," he saluted playfully just before the egg completely closed.

Amu watched as the egg floated towards the fallen figure and entered his chest, causing a ripple on the surface as it went in. She watched his abnormal, vacant teal eyes gradually gain a glow and intensity that she never thought anyone's eyes could ever have been capable of having.

Squeezing shut his eyes and then opening it again after a few seconds to take away the sudden dizziness, his eyes adjusted to the moonlight and he just lay there, staring out into nothingness, trying to recount why he was lying on the ground, not even noticing a pair of golden-brown eyes watching his every move.

Amu watched as he probably was wondering where he was. She didn't dare move an inch in case he hadn't noticed her.

Seemingly recounting his memories, he bolted upright, looking immediately at the small performing stage.

Amu's brow furrowed. Was he able to see Ikuto?

A long silence descended upon the square, until the once unconscious people started waking up. One by one, they sat up, all the while asking each other what happened. Just as Amu was about to go an ask if they were a okay, a rather busty woman with light brown/ orange hair cascading past her shoulders, started running up and calling… captain? Amu watched her run up to the crowd of people, but to her surprise, dodges through the mounds of people to the white-haired youth she was looking at earlier. Said boy was taking his time trying to stand back up while pressing a hand to his throbbing temple. Amu watched with a small smile of amusement as he had to clumsily dodge the woman as she tried to hug him while asking if he was okay. The boy started berating the woman, to Amu's further amusement, until she asked something that made him freeze, her playful air vanishing. Ever so slowly, the unknown woman and child looked at his chest, surprise written across their faces. Amu blinked. Were they able to see the Guardian Egg? That shouldn't be possible. The woman didn't even have a Guardian Egg inside of her. As she was contemplating, she noticed the boy and woman alike suddenly tense up. That's the only warning she had before she dove behind a tree just as the boy glanced towards where she once sat. She cautiously pokes an eye out, the boy seeming alert and sweeping his eyes across the area around her. The woman asked another question, most likely asking what was wrong, but she could tell that she, too, was uneasy. The white-haired youth shook his head, probably saying nothing was wrong. After making sure they were looking away, she slowly stood up and started walking back home, trying not to make a sound. She didn't notice the pair of eyes full of wisdom gazing at her retreating back.


	3. Stalkers, Seiyo Guardians, & Heart Eggs

**Ohayo! I am back, and ready to start typing! I just noticed I didn't have an author's note at the end of the last chapter, but I guess that's okay. –Squeals- How'd I do? How'd I do? I'm not sure if I made it a bit too… dramatic or 'fast'. In any case, I am becoming obsessed in doing this, that I actually didn't want to go to sleep yet and whenever I had the chance to go on our laptops at school, I immediately went on to type my story. XD I was actually planning on spending the weekend on trying to do my homework, but I ended up getting side-tracked at only typing my story. Next thing I know, it's 10 o'clock on Sunday and I didn't even touch my backpack! Aaaand here goes my blabbermouth, **_**again. **_**I seriously have got to stop doing that. Anyways, FORWARD TO CHAPTER 3!**

**Chapter 3**

Hitsugaya had enough on his mind; he didn't need all those new heart-aches (was it?) and strange reiatsu patterns to go along with it.

For the hundredth time that day, his mind wandered to the new reiatsu sheltered inside his chest, the unconscious citizens, the mysterious navy-haired teenager, and the bubble-gum hair colored girl. All these new thoughts ran through his head as he half-consciously took notes of the teacher's lesson in this dreaded, new, _elementary _school. (AN: You know, I wonder what he thought of being a student in Karakura High was…) It has been a week since the 'incident', yet he can't seem to get over the feeling of being watched every time he sets foot outside. Several times he also felt like he was being watched even in the _hallways_. The bell rang, breaking him out of his thoughts.

His body moving on his own, he packed up his stuff, thrust it over his shoulder, and headed towards the roof, but not before grabbing a drink that Kuchiki, Rukia once identified as a 'juice box'. Taking a sip of the sweet substance, after learning how the juice box works, and crinkling his nose in distaste, he opened the door to the roof, which was deserted. Shutting the door behind him, he strolled across the area to the edge overlooking the town. Sitting on the edge, his back facing the town, he twisted his head so he could have a side-ways view of the town and allowed himself to relax, closing his eyes.

Meanwhile, an anonymous figure peeked around the corner of a wall, staring at the relaxing Shinigami in disguise. A guardian character popped out, then another, and then another.

"What's he doing?" Su asked in her innocent voice.

"Lounging around," Miki replied.

"Mou, I want to be able to do that!" Ran complained.

"_You_ could do it anytime, while _I _have to stay awake through school. Anyway, quiet down, he'll hear you!" Amu whispered, looking pointedly at Ran.

"Amu-Chan, did you forget that since his guardian character hasn't awakened, he can't see us?" Miki asked looking up at the bubble-gum hair colored student.

"Ah, r-right," said girl recalled with a slight sweat-drop. "But, he could always just have a guardian character and be hiding it."

"Most of us don't like being hidden, Amu-Chan."

"Well, sometimes you don't have a choi-," she was broken off by a new voice.

"What are you doing?"

Amu froze. Very slowly, she turned her head back to the spot where the new transfer sat, but couldn't see. Why? Because right in front of her was a pair of arms crossed in front of a chest, to which Amu gulped. Raising her eyes, she was prepared to meet an accusing gaze, but instead, he was staring off into something next to her. She followed his line of sight- right to Ran, Miki, and Su. She gasped slightly, unintentionally catching his attention. She scrutinized his face: hardened teal eyes, with wisdom beyond any children's years, furrowed eyebrows, and a scowl that actually seems quite permanent, and short, spiky, white hair with one lock hanging over his left eye. Yep, this was definitely the boy they once talked about. His eyes narrowed.

"I asked, 'what were you doing'?" he repeated in an exasperated tone, weary of all the stares he has been getting for the past week. While in his mind, he was actually taking in this girl standing in front of him; the same girl who was there when he woke up from that incident. Light pink hair with part of it lifted up by a red, X hairclip, golden-brown eyes, the regular Seiyo Academy uniform, but with leg warmers, a belt, and an arm accessory held to the uniform by a clip.

Said punk-gothic styled girl started after realizing that she was once again spoken too. "I-I-I'm," she stuttered, un-used to being caught, "SORRY!" She ran right out of there with several mini-reiatsu trailing after her, in Toshiro's view.

Toshiro stared after her, the cloud of dust billowing out as a trail. Having nothing to do and curious, he followed her.

In the meantime, Amu was running in an outrageous speed towards the royal garden, where she knew all of the guardians were at the moment, her guardian characters flying after her and shouting at her to slow down.

Tadase, Yaya, Kukai, and Nadeshiko were all drinking tea in companionable silence while waiting for their Joker until they put their cups down and the cups started shaking. The four of them exchanged glances and smiled. _Amu._

Kukai whistled. "She learned really fast," he spoke in a proud voice, having trained her when she began her duties as the Joker.

"Yaya thinks so too~!" Yaya agreed.

The Royal Garden's doors banged open and out came an almost hysterical bubble-gum haired girl. As soon as she entered, she ran up to the guardians in the blink of an eye. She banged her hands on the table, out of breath. "Why did I have to stalk him?!" she protested.

Kukai gave a wink and a grin. "You need to learn how to work on your stealth to sneak up on X-eggs and characters!" he said matter-of-factly.

Amu was still flushed, but finally regained her breath. "D-demo," she protested weakly. She looked down. Turning around she folded her arms and closed her eyes. "He saw me."

"Hah?" Kukai said, as if he already knew that it would happen. "Did he follow you?"

Amu flinched. She turned 180o, her body creaking cartoon-like as she did so to stare horrifyingly at the grinning athletic. A few seconds passed. "Come again?"

On cue, the door to the Royal Garden opened yet again. The gravel crunching underneath his feet, Hitsugaya Toshiro stepped inside, hands in his pockets, and observing his surroundings.

Guardians and guardian characters alike, except Amu who was rather clueless, smiled, or in some cases, smirked or grinned, knowingly.

Amu stared at them. _It was their plan all along!_ Though she was somewhat upset that she was left out.

Stopping about a foot or two away from the slightly lifted platform, his eyes catching every person's gaze, he finally met and held the gaze of the person most likely in charge: Tadase. A slight staring contest began, the tension in the air, before the intruder finally spoke. "I only have one question," he said in a rather low voice. "Who are you people?"

Toshiro leaned back against one of the columns, arms crossed and staring skywards, emotions carefully concealed. "So you're telling me, that this 'Easter Company', is trying to find this 'Embryo' to grant wishes for, most likely, evil purposes?" His tone sounded like he didn't believe them, but in actuality, he was taking in every single detail.

Everyone nodded. _But when you put it that way, it doesn't sound entirely believable,_ Amu thought with a slight sweat-drop.

"And you, Guardians of Seiyo Academy, are trying to stop them from finding this Embryo and also protecting people from losing their guardian eggs and making them become 'X-eggs' and 'X-Characters' using your guardian characters?" He closed his eyes.

"That's right," Tadase said with a nod.

Toshiro sighed. "If you have guardian characters, where are they?" he asked, gazing at the guardians as if he was expecting an answer.

"People without guardian characters cannot see them," Nadeshiko answered. _Though, from what I see, he occasionally keeps glancing at places where all of our guardian characters are, _she observed. She stared at the transfer student with a scrutinizing gaze. Something didn't feel right.

Though he felt the suspicious gaze, he deftly ignored it. Everywhere they went, most Shinigami couldn't help but to be able to attract attention and be considered as 'strange'. It was expected and was rather a big habit to ignore them. Though, he knew it shouldn't be taken as lightly. Individuals among those people could be a danger to their mission or even to Soul Society. As he thought of Soul Society, he couldn't help but wonder how Hinamori was doing in the Fourth Division, still in a coma after what that _Aizen_-his eyes darkened- made _him _do to her; after he _failed_ to protect her.

Unbeknownst to him, his guardian egg, once shining brightly, dulled in color. Something the guardians didn't fail to notice.

Nadeshiko and Tadase glanced at each other, as if silently agreeing to watch over him. Yaya, her fist covering her mouth, stared worriedly at the white-haired youth. Kukai frowned, and Amu gazed from person to person.

"Anyway, we think that you might be helpful in the future, if we come across problems that we might not be able to handle," Tadase spoke, breaking Toshiro out of his dark thoughts.

"Helpful," Toshiro echoed with a questioning tone. He raised an eyebrow. "And, pray tell, how am I supposed to be 'helpful' to the guardians?"

Nadeshiko smiled. "Once you get your guardian character, you'll understand," she replied. "In the meantime, your heart's egg is resting safely inside yourself."

What surprised them was the fact that once the words left her mouth, Toshiro flinched. He tilted his head down so that shadows came across his face and causing the Guardians to not be able to read his expression.

A long silence descended upon the group. Each and every guardian was curious about his strange reaction.

"Well, I believe that's enough for today," Toshiro stated, getting off the column. He put his hand back in his pocket. He nodded to the guardians in farewell, his expression still unreadable. Walking the short distance to the door, he felt the guardians watching his retreating back. Once he reached the door, he turned to look directly at a reiatsu that was standing off to the side of the door, and then exited the Royal Garden.

Ran squeaked as she stared at the strange youth when he stared right at her. Though it was only brief, and it shouldn't be possible for him to see her, it still sent shivers down her miniature spine. Once he exited, she let out a sigh of relief.

Yaya suddenly let out a small exclamation of surprise.

Amu, who was right next to Yaya, scurried backwards when she heard the tiny yell. "W-what is it Yaya?" she asked, calming down when she realized nothing bad happened.

Yaya turned to face Amu, a wink and smile plastered on her face and a finger out and tilted slightly. "Amu-chi was 'cool and spicy', ne~?" Yaya asked, though she already knew the answer.

Amu thought for a minute. It has been a while since she was called that. She nodded, urging Yaya to continue.

"He was just like you!" Yaya said, eyes shining.

Amu blanched. "Hah?"

Kukai intervened. "Not really," he claimed. "He was more of a, 'cool and _icy_'." He finished with a grin.

Yaya nodded vigorously.

"S-sokka?" she stated more than asked, slightly sweat-dropping once again. They heard the school bell ring. "Ah! We have to get back to class!"

Toshiro dropped his bag on the desk chair and practically collapsed, onto his bed in the room of his temporary home. Matsumoto was nowhere to be seen- but he had a sneaky suspicion of what she was actually doing. Considering the fact that her wardrobe was beginning to overflow and get stuffier each day. He sighed and placed an arm over his eyes. Guardians, guardian characters, X-characters, X-eggs, Easter Company, Embryo, Heart Eggs-. He put a hand over his chest, feeling the slightly different reiatsu coming off. This shouldn't be possible. This shouldn't be even happening, but it was. He sat up and took out his Soul Pager. As he reported his mission so far, many questions ran through his head. How were the guardian characters and heart eggs even created? Why haven't they noticed them until now? Why does he have a heart's egg, but Matsumoto doesn't?

All that was heard in the medium-sized bedroom was the beeping of the keys on the phone being pressed. That is until a particular, busty woman burst through the front door, loudly proclaiming that she was home. Toshiro had just finished the report, but closed his eyes and took a deep breath, bracing himself for the migraine that came along with someone who was currently bounding up the stairs.

Why does it always have to happen to him?

"Ne, Taicho, are you _sure_ you're okay?"

No response. He already decided that it was useless to keep answering after she asked the same question fifty-eight times ago (and yes, he counted).

"Taicho, you shouldn't ignore me while I'm concerned for you," she whined, arms behind he back and leaning forward to look at his face.

"And since when were you in the position to berate me on what I do?"

She pouted and put her hands on her hips. "You're so mean, Taicho~, I was just worried that you weren't hale and hearty," she continued.

He could've scoffed, but he didn't. "I'm as healthy as a horse."

Matsumoto rolled her eyes; Toshiro noted that she didn't do it very often. "'As healthy as a horse' that's dying," she rephrased his answer. "Taicho, what about the…?" She broke off, gesturing to his chest.

He hesitated, but soon relaxed since it was _his_ subordinate after all. He looked at his sub-ordinate in a way that specifically told her to listen carefully. He talked about his meeting with the Seiyo Academy Guardians, the Guardian Characters, the heart's egg, and the Easter Company (AN: I dare say more, but I don't want to overflow the page by listing each and every major detail). Surprisingly, his lieutenant remained quiet with a serious face the whole lecture through.

He fell quiet, awaiting her reaction. She frowned as if she contemplating something. After several moments, she finally brightened, apparently having figured something out. "Ne, Taicho, can I try something?" she asked.

He scrutinized his lieutenant's face. She seemed genuine and sincere, so he nodded, albeit a bit reluctantly.

She grinned. Leaning in close, too close for Toshiro's comfort, until she made an almost 90o angle with her body and with her face directly in front of Toshiro's chest, ignoring the suspicious aura rolling off her Taicho's body. "Hello there! Can you hear me? If you can, can you please raise your reiatsu so that I will know?" she practically yelled. In another person's view, it would've looked rather… awkward, having a lady yelling at your chest. There was no response, nor a raise in reiatsu. She pouted. "I'll try again."

Toshiro sighed. "Matsumoto, I don't think-"he broke off after he felt a somewhat different reiatsu coming from him rising slightly. He widened his eyes.

Matsumoto grinned at her achievement. "Raise your reiatsu if you really are Toshiro's guardian character," she continued, using her theory. It did as it was told. Suddenly serious, she asked the question they were most curious about. "If you know why Toshiro has a guardian character, don't raise your reiatsu." After several long moments, it raised its reiatsu. Matsumoto sighed, and then smiled sincerely. "Arigato ne, guardian character-san," she said. It raised its reiatsu as an act of farewell. She stood up straight and made eye contact with her superior.

What to do?

**To be continued…**

**Hey that's cool! Maybe I should do that to the other chappys! XD Nah, I'm joking, but I still might do it! So… each chapter I am trying to raise how much words are in each chapter more than the last, so probably by the later chapters, I'll hopefully have at least twice or three times the amount of words I have in this chapter! Sound fun~? Sounds tiring to me… .. Eh, I'll work on it. I won't be able to update as soon as I am updating right now because they just moved me to upper classes in school. First thing that happens: I get to do the hardest part of a project in my group and I have many people stare at me. Talk about pressure! I'll try my best to update soon though! And I am NOT, I repeat, NOT going to give up this story until I finish it! You have my word! If I don't keep it, criticize me all you want! And that's a promise!**

**Also, I would like to give thanks to my fellow followers, reviewers, and favoriters- is that even a word? Huh, guess not considering the fact that it had the red squiggly line underneath. XD Ok, I'm starting to blabber again, I better stop before it gets worse. Jaa Ne~!**


	4. A Guardian Egg is Born! Soccer Fever!

**I don't like school. That's the first thing I thought of when I started this chapter. I kept on planning to make another chapter, but my school work keeps on getting in the way and I can't go to bed until a long time after 11 pm to 1 am. . I don't like it one bit. Buuuut, now I could **_**finally**_** work on my story since it's the weekend. –Sigh- I have never been so grateful! ^o^ But now's not the time. I AM GOING TO WORK MY BEST TO GET THIS NEXT CHAPTER! BEHOLD, THE CHAPTER THAT I AM JUST MAKING UP AS I GO ALONG! –Pause- Wait a minute, did I do a disclaimer in the last chapter? If I didn't, then I guess I should do it now! **

**Disclaimer: AS MUCH AS I LOVE BLEACH, I DON'T OWN IT. AS MUCH AS I LIKE SHUGO CHARA, I DON'T OWN IT!**

**Chapter 4**

A comfortable breeze swept through the town, ruffling his soft, snowy locks. Birds chirping in the background, the average temperature, and the lack of clouds in the clear, blue sky created an almost perfect and relaxing atmosphere in Karakura town. _Almost_, being the key-word. Just then, a distorted-feeling reiatsu invaded his senses, to which he latched on to it and located its source.

Emotionlessly, half-lidded teal orbs hardened.

Time to get some answers.

~XoX~

Amu sighed, changing back to her regular self. _Ikuto, just why are you doing this?_

Ran, Miki, and Su floated up towards her, concern etched on their faces. "Amu-Chan," Ran spoke, softly.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, she took on a determined faced. Turning to look at her guardian characters, she gave a nod, silently assuring them that she was alright. Ikuto is the enemy, the company he works for just wants to find the Embryo. This was nothing. But, the more she thought about it, the more her suspicion of his reasons for appearing more often than usual to draw in large amounts of people. He _could_ just be gathering loads of people just so he could see if the Embryo is there, possibly _after _she purifies it, but at the same time, she noticed that he occasionally leaves once she arrives- as if he couldn't find something- or _someone_.

"AMU-CHAN!" Ran yelled in her face, rudely snapping her out of her musings.

Amu gave a slight cry of surprise, her surprise quickly turning into anger as she unsuccessfully flailed her arms around to catch her offending guardian character. "RAN!" She yelled accusingly.

As Ran dodged the fury of the appendages, Miki and Su, once again, floated on the side-lines, staring at the amusing scene, one face with concern and another with indifferent. Neither noticed the practically glowing teal orbs leaning against a tree in the shadows, watching their every move.

~XoX~

Matsumoto had practically skipped to the Seiyo Academy, humming all the way. She couldn't wait to tell Taicho what she discovered! How he never even noticed it, she would never know. She was so caught up in thinking about how her Taicho would react, like making him change his mind into thinking that she was actually doing something important, that she didn't even think about the consequences of her actions when she _picks him up_ from the Academy. It was probably not the best idea.

So here she was, standing with one hand on her hip a few feet inside the gates, tapping her thigh impatiently. Finally, the bell rang and students practically poured out of the school. Matsumoto could've squealed in delight at all the cute, little kids, but she was too pre-occupied in finding her captain. She ignored all the gawks that she was getting and immediately rushed towards her captain's reiatsu- almost trampling the poor, grade students.

All of the guardians- Amu, Tadase, Nadeshiko, Yaya, and Kukai- were all enjoying each other's presence as they walked the path to the Royal Garden. Just when they were a few feet away from the door, they suddenly felt the ground start shaking.

"Wha-what is this?!" Amu yelled out, stumbling for a bit when Yaya gave a small, girly, scream and latched onto her.

"Earthquake!" Yaya wailed.

"Iie, it's not an earthquake," Tadase said calmly, as if the ground wasn't shaking. He looked back at the direction they had just come from.

"What is it then, Hotori-kun?" Nadeshiko repeated Amu's question to the King, while regaining her balance.

Tadase didn't have the chance to answer because Yaya answered her question by unlatching herself from Amu and pointing at the same direction Tadase was looking at. "Look, look!"

A cloud of dirt was running in their direction, but that wasn't what paralyzed them for a brief moment. It was the person _causing_ the trail to billow up in the first place- a very buxom person; a very buxom and _busty woman_ to be exact. The same lady who was with the transfer student, Amu just realized. "Looks like you have some competition," Kukai joked to Amu. She soon realized he was talking about her running speed a few moments later.

The woman ran towards them, excitement clearly written on her face. Just as she was about to pass by them, she caught sight of Amu and literally screeched to a stop. As if she hadn't been running over 40 mph, she wasn't even panting. "It's you," she said, pointing at the bubble-gum hair colored girl in realization.

Said girl responded with an intelligent "eh?" and pointed at herself, confusion evident on her face. "Me?"

The woman didn't answer, but ran her gaze over the group. She bent her knees so that she was at least eye level with Yaya. With a serious face, she grasped Yaya's cheeks, moving Yaya's head this way and that. Yaya was confused, but she didn't seem that uncomfortable either. The unknown woman's serious façade broke. "So cute~!" she squealed and enfolded Yaya in a huge embrace, practically squeezing the life out of her.

Thankfully, Yaya was able to turn before she hugged her, so she was able to continue to breathe much easier than if she was being suffocated. Overpowered, she hung limply in the woman's grasp while the guardians were trying to get her out of the folded arms. Their actions were in vain.

That is, until a certain someone with white hair walked up to them out of nowhere silently, tapped the shoulder of the woman, to which she turned her head so that she could partly see the person behind her, but got quickly knocked out when that person karate-chopped her on the neck.

The arms around Yaya departed and Amu & Nadeshiko quickly caught her before she fell. Laying her down gently on the floor, Amu took out a paper fan, to which Miki commented about where she got it, and started trying to get some air into Yaya's comically limp and soul-less body.

Tadase and Kukai both looked at the group of girls, but then turned back to the person guilty of the 'attack'. Said person hung droopily from a student's hand who was wearing the standard Seiyo uniform. "Thank you, Hitsugaya-kun," Tadase said to the nonchalant white-haired transfer.

Toshiro briefly looked at Tadase before he wordlessly went into the Royal Garden, dragging the unconscious Matsumoto with him.

Though they were questionable about his actions- both about knocking out a woman who looked twice his age a_nd_ going inside the Royal Garden without even asking-, they decided that he was responsible and respectful enough to not do anything horrible inside while they wait for their Ace to wake up. When she finally did, albeit a bit dizzy and clumsy, they made their way inside the doors. What they saw once they got a view of the two non-guardians blanked their minds.

The woman, now conscious, was standing up straight holding out something with both hands to the white-haired youth. The 'boy' was currently staring fascinated at the object she possessed in her hands.

A Heart's Egg. No, a _Guardian Character's _Egg to be exact.

The patterns of the delicate egg were enough to take their breath away. On the front of the egg sat a practically transparent, yet still visible, aqua-blue shield with sharp, strangely shaped designs (AN: Huh, it's all S's, didn't notice that until I typed it) that alternated as it ran around the inside perimeter of the armor. A miniature, yet mighty, appearing ice serpent-dragon partially hid behind the shield, but it's head and part of its 'neck' stuck out over the top of the shield. The part of the body that was hidden behind the see-through shield was mostly visible. Its long tail/body exited the shield, wound around the whole egg until it reached the front; the tip of the tail between the chest and the shield limply hung down until it was completely visible beneath the shield. The serpent's wings spread out from the back of its body and the shield so that the shield looked as if it had its own wings and so that the tips of the wings stopped where it was partly see-able when you look at the back of the egg. A lighter shade of indigo covered the remaining spaces. Even though it was only a design, it looked so real and so detailed- every sharp edge of the dragon's scales and wings defined and said body parts gave a small glow, as well as the crimson eyes of the dragon.

One by one, they broke out of their trance- Kukai first, Yaya last. "That's so cool~!" Yaya shouted out, breaking the silence. But then, she started whining. "Yaya wants an egg like that!"

Nadeshiko spoke next. "It's beautiful, but we have yet to see what it's capable of," she stated, walking up to the platform.

The two Shinigami abruptly turned towards the guardians, as if just noticing their presence. "Ne, Taicho, are these your friends?" the taller of the two asked the smaller, leaning expectantly at her captain.

Toshiro shot her an annoyed glare. "They're not," he said slowly, clenching his jaw to prevent him from verbally lashing out on his subordinate.

"'Course we are!" Kukai interjected; unaware of the danger he was placing himself in. He walked up to Toshiro, and without warning, lazily put his arm around his shoulder. "We haven't talked much, but we are definitely are going to be friends!"

"So basically you guys aren't friends." That was Amu.

He flinched, and turned his head to look at Amu. "That's mean, Hinamori-Chan," he complained.

Toshiro, once about to give the sixth grader a piece of his mind, stopped when he heard her name. "Hinamori?"

The guardians heard his voice of surprise and turned to glance at him. "What's the matter?" Kukai asked, though as he expected, he got no answer from the mysterious youth.

"Your name is Hinamori-Chan?" The buxom lady asked.

Amu nodded. "By the way, who are you?" she questioned the lady.

The woman blinked, realizing that she _had_ not introduced herself at all. "Me? I'm Matsumoto, Rangiku!" she answered.

Tadase stepped in. "And what is your relationship to Hitsugaya-kun?" It was an innocent question.

Seemingly knowing it, she got rid of her own suspicions and winked. "That's classified information, little pri-," she was interrupted by a two pairs of hands covering her mouth. Amu and Yaya's to be exact. She pulled their hands away and massaged her face. "What was that for~?" She whined.

"Don't say that in front of him," Amu and Yaya whispered in unison.

Matsumoto blinked once again. "Hai, hai," she waved them off with a smile.

A smile Toshiro knew all too well; the smile that says that she was going to do the exact opposite. Suddenly remembering his position, he harshly plucked Kukai's arm from his shoulder with an iron grip and practically shoved the appendage at the owner.

Kukai stumbled back, nursing his arm. He stared at his arm in wonder, and then turned back to the person responsible. "Man that hurts! You've got a strong grip!" he complained and complimented all at the same time as his arm turned slightly red from the hand that had briefly latched onto it.

Nevertheless, Toshiro ignored him and turned his attention to his still chattering lieutenant. "Matsumoto," he simply said.

She turned to look at him, and realizing what he wanted after he pointedly looked at the object she was holding, she gave his heart's egg to him.

He cautiously took it in his hand and a chilled, relaxing feeling ran over his entire body on contact. He brought it up slightly to peer at the complicated designs. The dragon, he noticed, had an eerily similar appearance to Hyorinmaru.

He thought back to the night before- when he was lying on his bed, lost in his thoughts, staring up at the ceiling.

_Flashback_

He couldn't go to sleep. He didn't know the reason why, but he just couldn't.

Unwillingly, his thoughts travelled backwards in time to when he saw Hinamori impaled on _his _sword. He unconsciously placed his hand over his scar. A ghost of the pain after being cut down by Aizen reminded him again of his failure at protecting Hinamori. Instead of protecting her, he did the exact opposite.

He turned to lie on his side. He clenched his fists, thinking of how helpless he had been. He wanted to continue his Bankai training, but he couldn't refuse this mission from the Head Captain. He thought about the last time he saw Hinamori- she laid on the fourth division's bed, looking so strong, yet so fragile. As if a single touch could break and kill her in the coma state she was in. _He_ was the one who stabbed her in the chest. _He_ brought her into a coma. _He _lost control of his feelings and was tricked by that traitor, Aizen… He thought this over. He flipped it in his head, looking at it with different points of view. Pretty soon he came to a realization.

_It was Aizen who almost killed Hinamori_, he comprehended. Yes, it was by his blade that she was stabbed, but it was _Aizen's_ blade that they were all tricked into attacking her. It was _Aizen_ who tricked _everyone_. He mentally grabbed the foolish thoughts he _once_ had and shoved them into the deep pit of his mind. After all this time, he finally found his answer. It was all Aizen. He _wanted_ them to blame themselves for their failures. Now… he understood.

His foolish vow to kill Aizen- his desire to spill the blood of the traitor who broke Hinamori- caused him to only spill the blood of his childhood friend. Now, he is sure. Now, he knows. What he desires- it wasn't supposed to be killing Aizen. He sought after protecting Hinamori. Protecting everyone he cares about; protecting everyone around him. He…

_End Flashback_

Toshiro stared up at the skylight, the sun radiating warmth and shining through the glass. He really said it. What a childish wish. It was in fact so childish that he almost thought that he was mentally unstable during that night. The captain of tenth squad of the Gotei 13 actually _wished_ to be strong enough to protect his loved ones. It was just a simple thought. And it cost him the attention of the guardians and a guardian egg. So much for not gathering attention, now he just made it worse.

He gazed at the egg, once again, in his hand- the sunlight seemingly making its turquoise color radiate. It was only a matter of time before it hatches. He had no idea what was to come once it did. He remembered his several nights 'talking' to his guardian egg inside his heart. It was actually more like Question and Answer. Though they've never really talked and met face-to-face, he has already grown a somewhat protective bond over his Heart's Egg. Besides Hyorinmaru, it was the only thing that is truly his, illogically speaking.

A sudden evil-sounding laugh echoed throughout the Royal Garden, breaking him out of his thoughts.

Returning to the present, he gathered his surroundings, noticing first the small, nervous group huddled together staring at someone in particular. Following their line of sight, he saw a particular King laughing evilly and started pointing at them to… "Bow down and become his slave"? He noted that a crown was on his head that was never there before. Not too far away from him was an almost hysterical well-endowed woman while the Queen's chair just smiled at the scene off to the side. Just by taking this in, he could make an accurate guess on what just happened when he zoned out.

"We told you _not_ to call him 'Prince'!" Amu yelled out, caught between being nervous, angry, or frightened.

"Never trust her enough to actually take her words for granted," Toshiro said grimly.

Said woman had already calmed down to hear his words. "Mou, Taicho, that's mean," she pouted. "You could trust me most of the time, ne?" She winked.

"No."

"Eh?!" she exclaimed, through truthfully she wasn't that all surprised. "Taicho, you're cruel!"

Just then, the character-changed King swung around and pointed at Matsumoto. "You, old lady! Bring me a cup of coffee!" Big mistake.

Several ticks later. "WHAT?!" Matsumoto exploded, seething defiantly at Kiseki-Tadase. "HOW DARE YOU?! GET THIS THROUGH YOUR THICK HEAD, MISTER! I. AM. NOT. OLD!"

Hitsugaya sighed.

~XoX~

After the white-haired transfer dragged away a still fuming Matsumoto, Tadase transformed back to normal and all was at peace. "So, what do you think?" Nadeshiko asked.

Kukai rubbed his swelling cheek that he got after trying to stop the woman from hitting Tadase. "A little violent, but she's all right," he pointed at his cheek for further emphasis.

Nadeshiko gave a short giggle that she hid slightly with her hand. "I meant the Guardian Egg and Hitsugaya-kun," she corrected, removing her hand.

Kukai stared. "Oh," he said.

Tadase cut in, smiling in small amusement. "I believe he's capable to become a Guardian," he suggested.

Amu turned her head sharply towards Tadase. "Eh?" she exclaimed in surprise.

Nadeshiko nodded. "So do I," she agreed.

Amu did the same reaction, along with the same, "eh?"

Yaya and Kukai nodded- Yaya more vigorously. "I want to see the guardian character!" Yaya clarified.

"He seems like the type who's good at sports," Kukai mused out loud. "He was able to knock out that woman with only one hit." He emphasized this by karate-chopping into thin air.

"Soccer!" Daichi, Kukai's guardian character, popped out of nowhere and exclaimed. "Maybe he could play soccer!"

Kukai made an 'oh' sound, actually debating the idea. "Are you sure? Maybe I could ask if we could have a soccer match then!"

"Always the lively one, ne, Soma-kun?" Nadeshiko smiled.

"Of course!" Kukai exclaimed, giving a thumbs up and a grin, winking his eye.

They all laughed softly.

~XoX~

"WATCH OUT!"

A soccer ball sped towards a certain white-haired youth, who at the time was sending his report during his walk around the school grounds, the ball whistling through the air. He, having been alert for almost everything, merely reared his leg back and jerked the ball back where it came from, not even looking up from his Soul Pager. He did look up, however, when he heard a yell of surprise and a painful sounding smack, along with a heavy thud.

In doing so, he came across an amusing scene. One soccer player, who he presumably hit, was collapsed on the ground after being downed from a soccer ball on the face, an outline of red on his face showing where the ball hit him, and his eyes in comical X's proving that he was knocked out. A few inches away, another soccer player wind-milled his arms in an attempt to stay standing after losing his balance when the downed soccer player pushed him slightly as he fell down. His actions were considered useless when he finally fell towards the ground, grabbing another person's ankle and causing that person to fall after backing up from surprise, misjudging the weight on his ankle. Like a pair of dominos knocking each other down, several other soccer players fell before there was no one else nearby to grab onto, causing the last person to, unfortunately, collide face-first into the ground with nothing to soften the impact. Silence reigned over the soccer field (AN: Hah, Toshiro practically causes silence wherever he goes! I just noticed that!). That is, until the star soccer player, also known as the six year guardian, started grabbing his sides and laughing hysterically.

"THAT WAS AWESOME!" he cried out between his laughing fits. He continued laughing, even as the dazed team members pulled themselves together and brought the player who got hit by the soccer ball to the nursery. After several minutes, he finally was able to recompose himself, albeit having a few tears in his eyes which he swiped away. He looked up at the still staring, white-haired transfer who had one eyebrow raised in mostly hidden amusement. "Hey, nice shot!" He called to the still stoic face. One day, he would make the boy crack. It was more of a vow than anything else. He suddenly remembered the earlier conversation he and Daichi had in the Royal Garden. "Yo, do you want to play soccer?"

Hitsugaya, meanwhile, was having a small flashback of the time when Kurosaki, Karin confronted him with her soccer friends. He felt a slight sense of deja-vu when he saw the soccer player fall back from a soccer ball to the face. He broke out of his thoughts when he heard a voice asking almost the same question Kurosaki had once asked. He sweat dropped. Why do these humans always want him to participate in these human affairs? Decided that he had enough of this, he walked away, therefore giving the answer to _that_ question.

Once Kukai realized that Hitsugaya was ignoring him, he frowned, looked around, and grabbed the nearest soccer ball. Spinning the ball and grinning mischievously, he dropped the ball and swung his leg full power towards the retreating figure, adding a special curve to the ball.

Hitsugaya inwardly sighed. That boy just won't leave him alone. Almost nonchalantly, he turned to face the curving ball, and braced his chest just as the ball collided. It didn't exactly hurt, but he felt it. The ball bounced off his torso and as it fell towards at a specific height, he reared his leg back once again and kicked it, easing off a bit lest he broke it. It was more than enough, though, to push the soccer star a foot backward when he tried to puff his chest to weaken the blow. The unfortunate boy keeled over from the hit.

Kukai looked up with a slightly painful, but happy grin. He even had one of his eyes closed to show how painful it really was. Man, what a strong kick! He would be great if he went on the soccer team! He stood, or at least attempted to, up straight. His second goal: getting Hitsugaya to play in the soccer games. He was about to run up to the white-haired transfer, but noticed something important. Toshiro was nowhere to be found. Kukai blinked. How did that happen? He was standing right there! He surveyed the area, but couldn't find any sign of the strange youth. A chill suddenly went down his spine, as if something cold was radiating somewhere behind him. He turned around, only noticing the awed soccer players who were staring at him. He thought he saw a hazy outline of something small and boy-looking, but when he tried focusing on it more, it disappeared. He stared for a few more minutes, but soon shrugged to himself. It must be his imagination.

**To be continued…**

**YAY! I AM SO HAPPY! I was able to create a chapter more than 1,000 words more than the last! WOOT! I have made nine pages… so the next chapter should be more than that, so about 10-12 pages… Yikes… that's a lot. I'm scared~! Ok, first things first, I need inspiration! I am beginning to lose my inspiration in this story, and the more I lose my inspiration, the more slowly the next chapter will be updated. Notice I didn't say that I would soon give up my story. I will absolutely NOT give up my story until the very END. Ok, I guess that sums it up on what I'm thinking of this current moment… hmm… oh yes! Kukai, you little dude, -laughs for absolutely no reason- … you're gonna die. XD Nah, he won't literally, but he's seriously going to piss off Toshiro… a LOT. Oh! And PLEASE review~! It will most likely help in earning my inspiration back! I'm serious! When I saw my first reviews, I practically squealed and jumped in REAL LIFE! I mean, I could do that a lot in the internet, or at least SAY that I am doing that, but in REAL LIFE? ****That**** has never happened before. Thank you my fellow followers, readers, visitors, viewers, and more that I think is too long of a list to type down right now. XD Oh, seriously?! I'm blabbering again! PS: ****I am going to comment/answer the reviews starting on the next Chappy! ****Jaa Ne~!**

**IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT: I AM NOW HOSTING A POLL ASKING IF "Should there be hollows in the Shugo Chara Crossover, "Inner Dragon Self?". PS: The choices are yes, no, and author's choice. Choose wisely! It will affect the story a great deal! Please notify this slightly timid author if the poll is not shown. OR, if you want, you could just private message me or review it to me so that I may see your choices! **


	5. Hollows, Ice-crystals, & Guardian Chara

**HELLOOOO~! I'M BACK AGAIN AND READY FOR ACTION! … Well. Not literally… BUT STILL! WOOOT! Ok, first things first: I hate school. Second: I'm hungry. Third: Does anyone have red velvet cakes? My mom is taking so long to put frosting. XD Nah, I'm joking. I didn't check. But she did cook red velvet cakes. O.O "Slap me thrice and hand me to me mama", I have SERIOUSLY got to stop blabbering about nonsense! Oh yeah, and if you recognize that quote but can't place where it's from, you should better listen to Mr. Gibbs again in the Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End! Awesome movie right? Jack is so funny! XD Aaaand I'm doing it again. Disclaimer: I don't own Shugo Chara or Bleach…or else it would be horrible… or won't even exist T.T And just as I promised…**

**Reviewers:**

**Riley Lupin-Black: AHAHAHAHAHA! Oh my god, that's hilarious! XD I have to say, you have a much better sense of humor than me. At least yours isn't mostly forced! X) LOVE your reviews! Today, I suddenly got lazy to continue the story since I was running out of inspiration, but because of yours and the other's reviews, it just bumped my determination back up! Thank you so much for that and for that awesome review!**

**Lazyslacker: O.O –stares into oblivion for a few silent minutes, until immediately running through the notes of the story- Oh my god. –looks on another paper- OH MY GOD. –looks up- OH MY GOD! THAT IS SUCH A GOOD IDEA! I SHOULD TOTALLY ADD MOMO IN IT! I guess I'll add Hollows to the story if that's what you really want~! I've been asking people if they wanted Hollows in the story, but now I finally get a straight answer! Thank you! Hmm, it's going to be difficult trying to create an inner self for Momo because she's pretty much who she wants to be, but I'll try. Also that's a good idea about the ancestor part! Hang on, peoples! Momo's coming very soon! Thank you for your suggestions and awesome review!**

**Ice Night: I congratulate you for being the first signed in reviewer! :D (Not talking badly about the other reviewers) I'm glad you find it interesting! Though I wish I could do better… I'll try to keep on updating as soon as possible –pause- as long as I could keep up in school… -waves hands frantically- I'm not saying I'm failing or anything, but it's just that the story is frequently on my mind, so I can't exactly focus sometimes! XD I'm overreacting aren't I?**

**Shiro- Thank you for your reviews! I wanted to try a different guardian character for Toshiro instead of the Guardian Character who is trying to make him more childish. "Try something new" they always say~! I personally thought that the 'cool and icy' bit that I did was a bit weird though.**

**Mia- -scratches head sheepishly- thanks, I'll try my best to keep it up! **

**Guard- Thank you~! I'm trying my best to update my writing as I go on, so your words will most likely help me in doing this! The chibi Toshiro- I kind of wished that he could've been a bit different though. They seemed too much alike for my taste. You know what? You're probably right about the necklace! **

**Bl- Thank you so much~! I tried my best to not make Toshiro sound so OOC or something. Any suggestions will be entirely welcome!**

**Chapter 5**

He needed some fresh air.

Ditching his gigai after telling his mod soul to go home, to which it nodded obediently and emotionlessly, he jumped onto the soccer field the guardian and his team was using. Just as he stepped onto the ground, he noticed the sixth year guardian…Soma Kukai, stare at him. He froze, but relaxed a bit after he realized that he wasn't exactly _seeing_ him. With the considerate amount of reiatsu he had, it wasn't that surprising that he could see him slightly. He watched Kukai shake his head, but before the boy could look again, Hitsugaya shunpoed off.

He didn't understand why the Head Captain sent him on this mission in the first place. Was it because he knew that he could probably fit in because of his, he dare say it, _childish_ looks? What was the real purpose of the mission?

He stopped on top of a telephone pole, lost in thought, until he noticed a specific lean, tall, and navy-haired teenager (or young adult) walking down the street. He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out why he looked so familiar. A case was slung over his back… a violin case. He widened his eyes a fraction as the memories came crashing down. He almost forgot about the boy he saw that night during the incident. He had an adequate amount of reiatsu- as much as Soma (or Kukai). Hitsugaya bent his knees slightly, ready to follow, until a specific malicious entered his senses. His Soul Pager rang, and he flipped it open, locating the exact spot where the Hollow has appeared- the park. He cursed inwardly. Pocketing the Soul Pager, he shunpoed off towards the location, taking one last glance at the suspicious boy and memorizing his features.

~XoX~

"Urusai, Matsumoto."

Said woman continued to laugh loudly as they walked the path back to their temporary home, ignoring her captain's words for the fiftieth time. "B-but, it was s-so hilarious!"

He just wanted peace, that's all he was asking. Yet, he was here, stuck with his bouncy lieutenant, trying to get him to express his humiliation. And it was all because of the person next to him. He twitched in annoyance.

"You should have seen your face, Taicho~!" Matsumoto continued to pester him to make him break.

"No, Matsumoto I shouldn't have seen my face, but unfortunately I did, so be quiet or I will get rid of the sake that I _know_ you hid under both of our beds," as he said this, he pointedly glared at her.

His expression broke as he blinked when his lieutenant suddenly quieted. He blinked again, and he was staring into thin air. He looked off into the distance and saw a faint cloud of dirt getting smaller and smaller by the minute.

In truth, he only guessed.

But now he knew that his prediction was correct, his lieutenant was surely going to dread the moment he sets his eyes on her once again. He sighed, rubbing his throbbing temple. She just _had _to behind him when he turned around after purifying the hollow who was trying to attack the innocent civilians. She just _had_ to be moving towards him once he turned around. And she just _had_ to be there, laughing her butt off as her superior fell to the ground after, unfortunately, bouncing off her well-endowed chest _and_ as his face turned almost as red as a tomato. Least to say, he was not pleased.

For what seemed like ages, he walked down the dim walkway, for once not going over his mission or his duties as a Soul Reaper. He instead relished the calmness and silence of the open-air. For some reason, he didn't want to go back to the house just yet. So, he did what any other curious person would do. He explored.

Hitsugaya walked down roads, through the parks, and out to the city streets. To anyone else, he would seem like he had a destination in mind. In reality however, he was taking in the 'wonders' of the World of the Living. People everywhere chattered and bustled around him, but he paid them no heed. He looked up into the dark, starry sky. Seeing the perfectly round moon, he wanted to soar, to take to the sky and answer its calls. He wanted to feel the cool, night air against his face, to actually feel free. But he knew that it wasn't going to happen. Not in this place. His mission comes first. That's all that matters. He'll fulfill his desires once he gets back to Soul Society after he finishes his mission.

Little did he know, a certain group of Guardians were walking down the same path he was, enjoying each other's company. Amu smiled absently at the imitations Yaya was making of her teachers (not rudely of course). She was lost in her own little world with her guardians floating around her head. That is, until she bumped into someone, making her stumble back and give out a small, flustered apology.

"Sorry," the person she bumped into muttered in a familiar voice.

She froze and slowly looked up, meeting the inattentive face of Toshiro Hitsugaya (who was looking through her at the moment), "T-Toshiro-kun?"

Hitsugaya barely registered the civilian bumping into him. But he was sharply pulled out his trance by the same civilian saying his name. He inwardly twitched in annoyance when that person used his first name. Blinking away the last of his daze, he focused his attention on the person in front of him. "Hinamori," he acknowledged, feeling a bit odd as he remembered that this girl had the same name as his childhood friend.

"Hitsugaya-kun," Tadase called out once he and his group realized that Amu was left behind and went back. "What are you doing here?"

Hitsugaya stared back at them with an impassive expression. "Exploring," he simply said.

"Ah, I see," Tadase said with a small sweat drop, already feeling a bit awkward. Thankfully, he was saved by a certain soccer star.

"How are you doing, soccer player?" Kukai asked, but he didn't give time for Hitsugaya to give an answer. "Nice weather isn't it?"

Hitsugaya blinked and raised an eyebrow incredulously at the teen. "Yes. Yes it is," he answered leisurely. "And, I'll be going now." He nodded to the others in acknowledgement and turned on his heel and started walking away.

"O-oy," Kukai made a half-hearted effort to stop the white-haired youth, but said 'boy' didn't stop until he was swallowed by the crowd.

The group stared at the spot where Hitsugaya once stood. "He's not exactly Mr. Social Butterfly, is he?" Kukai broke the silence.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

~XoX~

He scowled all the way out the doors of his dreaded school. There were several things that were irritating him. One, his lazy fuku-taicho was nowhere to be found since last night. Two, the Guardians were still pursuing him and trying to be 'friendly' with him. And lastly, the amount of Hollows has increased overnight. Though this may be because of the Guardian's and a select number of children's reiatsu increasing slightly every day. Before, there were barely any hollows when he was first assigned. Heck, he didn't even sense any at all until about a week after. Now, there were about 2-3 hollows appearing every other day. It wasn't something a captain or seated officer couldn't handle, but this meant that he wouldn't be able to relax more peacefully. Someone really hates him up there.

He was yet a_gain_ pulled out of his thoughts when his Soul Pager beeped- signaling that there was another Hollow that appeared. He sighed. He would never admit it out loud, but he really needed a break.

~XoX~

Hitsugaya nonchalantly got in his gigai and deposited his Gikogan in the dispenser as if he hadn't just killed off a creature that could destroy someone's life/soul. He surveyed the area. No doubt that the humans would wonder what has happened; especially considering the fact that the park was adorned with newly made cracks and craters about a foot deep. Fortunately, there was no one around for the hollows to harm. He hurried to the exit of the park, hoping no one would notice his appearance in the park during the 'accident'.

His prayers weren't answered.

Just as he was about a foot away from the exit, a familiar individual rushed inside the area. He stopped immediately, identifying the intruder as Hinamori- the girl with the bubble-gum hair.

At the last moment, Amu noticed the white-haired youth. She dug her heels in the ground, screeching to a stop half a foot away from him. She wobbled like an unstable stick until she regained her balance that was lost from her rush. "T-Toshiro-kun! What are you doing here?" she asked, panting heavily, her body bent over and her hands on her knees. When he didn't answer, she looked behind him and gaped at the scene, "what _happened_?!"

Toshiro sighed once more when she said his first name once again. Just what he needed, _another_ person who refuses to say his name right. He had a small theory that she does it unintentionally, though. He reached into his pocket for the memory modifier (AN: Is that what it's called?), but paused as another reiatsu filled his senses. Another hollow? He looked behind him and saw a Garganta open as a huge hollow poked its head through. A horrified cry made him look back towards the human. Her eyes were wide with unmistakable terror as she stared _directly_ at the hollow. So, she was able to see huge hollows clearly?

Amu couldn't find any words that described her fear and terror as she saw an inhuman creature appear from what looked like a black hole. She couldn't believe her eyes. First of all, it was humongous. It was about twice the size of her house, with a hole through its chest where its heart should be. Its hands were about the size of a car! But what also caught her attention was the huge, white mask that covered its whole face and red, empty eyes. "N-no way," she whispered in horror. "This isn't real, this isn't real."

Ran, Miki, and Su obscured her vision, snapping her out of her horror-stricken trance. "Amu-chan! Hold yourself together!" They said in unison.

Amu looked at them, their determined faces were flashed with fear, but they were still hopeful. "You guys," Amu said, softly.

Hitsugaya however, wasn't included in the touchy scene. He was pre-occupied enough with figuring out why the Hollow disappeared. He looked around, not being able to sense anything. Wait, 'not being able to sense _anything_'? Sure enough, when he tried to focus on the reiatsu the girl was supposed to be emitting, he couldn't sense anything. Neither could he sense the reiatsu of her guardians around her. Did the hollow take away his reiatsu sensor? He reached into his pocket for his Gikogan, but then a sudden scream made him pause and swerve around, her name at the tip of his tongue. Before he could say anything however, a sudden weight slammed his body to the ground, knocking the breath out of his lungs. A clatter on his far right took his attention and when he looked, he saw his Gikogan dispenser skidding farther and farther away from their location. He cursed. How was he supposed to get out of his Gigai now?

"TOSHIRO!"

Her voice was filled with terror. Amu was just about to run towards the transfer who was being crushed, but the leviathan took one look at her and swiped her aside. She barely registered flying through the air and crashing on the ground as she froze with her expression full of agony and pain- so much more unbearable than anything she has ever experienced. She couldn't move. She just stared, her vision getting blurry, at the white haired transfer who also froze and stared at her with a shocked expression. She watched his eyes contort with sudden rage, but everywhere else was strangely calm.

Least to say, Toshiro was downright outraged. How could he be so weak right now? Because of him, one of the people he was told to protect was practically writhing inwardly in pain several feet away. He inwardly shook his head. No. He shouldn't think that way. It was true that she was in pain, but that doesn't mean that he still can't save her. Heaving in a huge lungful of air, he strained with everything he's got in his faux body to lift the huge appendage currently on him. It worked, and while the hollow was distracted, he skillfully rolled out from under the hand, stopping in a kneeled position, but immediately jumped/ran to a different area as the Hollow hit the spot where he was a second ago. He realized several attempts later to catch him that the Hollow was purposefully drawing him away from his important item that he needed.

Suddenly, the hollow stopped.

Toshiro also paused in a stance, ready to dash past the hollow to his Gikogan. Until, he noticed something important. Where was Hinamori? He looked around, making sure to not give the hollow an opening. He couldn't see her. Movement from the hollow caught his eye, so he once again focused back to the hollow. The hollow's tail whipped behind the owner, causing dirt- wait, _tail_? Toshiro widened his eyes a fraction. Last time he checked, the hollow didn't have a tail. A flash of pink made him fix his gaze at the tip of the tail. The hollow lifted its tail in the air, showing the now unconscious Hinamori wrapped in its grasp. He clenched his jaw.

He was cornered. He wouldn't be able to reach his Gikogan or else Hinamori would lose her life- killed by a hollow; and at such a young age at that. His eyes flashed dangerously. He was not going to allow that. No matter what, he was going to protect this human. (AN: I hope you're not thinking about 'those' thoughts, Toshiro because this is a NO PAIRING story… But at least he said 'human' instead of her name) If he couldn't protect a human and kill off a lowly hollow, he wasn't worthy enough to become a captain, and he knew it.

Being squeezed tightly, a certain Bubble-gum haired girl woke up. She drowsily opened her eyes. At first, she thought that she was imagining things, but when she realized that she was actually over ten feet in the air, she immediately widened her eyes and started struggling against the harsh grip. Her actions were sluggish due to the fact that 1) she just woke up, and 2) not too while ago she was tossed halfway across a park so she was bound to still feel at least a bit of pain. She paused, seeing Ran, Miki, and Su trying in vain to pull her free. The memories before she passed out came flooding into her brain. Amu looked around; trying to spot the person she once saw was in danger. There he was. He was just… standing? No, it looked like he was thinking. She looked closely and practically saw the gears rolling in his head. Other than small scrapes here and there, he actually seemed fine- exhausted, but fine. She inwardly sighed in relief. She hoped that they would find a way out of this mess.

Toshiro saw her wake up. He couldn't find a way out, and the hollow was starting to get a little impatient. It took a step forward and he got into a defensive stance, feeling the stare of its hostage watching him. Where was his lousy lieutenant when he needed her? He couldn't possibly protect Hinamori and have the strength to defeat a huge hollow in his current body.

"_Then change_."

Toshiro blinked. He sharply looked behind him, keeping the hollow in his peripheral vision, but he couldn't see anything or feel anything due to his loss of sensing reiatsu.

"_From a person who doesn't have the strength to protect to a person who does, CHARACTER CHANGE!"_

…What?

He couldn't ponder anymore when a small, glowing, ice-crystal necklace popped onto his neck and his body wasn't in his control anymore. Without wanting to do so, 'he' grinned and yelled out to the hollow, "COME AND GET ME YOU MORON!" Inwardly, Toshiro blanched. What…

Amu gawked at him. That isn't him. The Toshiro she has met doesn't give out a cocky grin in a serious situation. The Toshiro she acquainted with doesn't yell out to a monster and call him a 'moron'! He might as well be trying to get himself killed!

The hollow lunged- Amu yelling out as the wind whipped her face.

'Toshiro' continued to grin, even as he saw the hollow roaring and leaping at him. He simply just raised his hand to his necklace, detached the diminutive ice-crystal from the necklace and held it out in front of him. "Hoarfrost screen!" his mouth moving accordingly by itself. The mineral shined a bright aqua blue as a light illuminated from it and spread a large portion in front of him. Once the light died down quickly, it showed forth a gleaming ice shield almost three times the height and width of him.

Unable to stop its mid-flight, it crashed onto the ice shield, the ice surprisingly holding its own without a single crack. It bounced off, none too gently, and collided onto the ground. Due to the harsh impact, its tail lost its grip on its hostage, and caused the tail to whip up and let go.

Amu didn't know what happened. She first saw the monster getting closer and closer to Toshiro, but then an ice shield appeared, and the next thing she knew, she was over five times the height that she woke up in, with _nothing_ to support her. She stayed in the air with a dumb-founded expression for about a tenth of a second before she screamed (AN: Not a girly scream, mind you. It was pretty much the same scream that she used in the first episode) as she fell at an astounding speed towards the earth. As tears came out of her eyes from hopelessness of saving herself, she saw Toshiro stare up at her. Golden-brown meeting teal, she thought that he would become serious and lose his grin. Oh, how she was so wrong. Rather, instead of that, his grin widened and he _waved_. She took on a stunned expression. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?! NOW IS NOT THE TIME TO BE WAVING!" she practically screamed at the strangely cheerful white-haired youth.

Toshiro frowned, but amusement still shone in his eyes. His hand stopped without any movement, but still stayed poised in the air. The crystal screen suddenly broke into fragments, floated in the air for a few seconds, and shot straight towards Amu.

Amu looked frantically around as the shards encircled her. "H-hey, what are you doing!?" she yelled out. The shards connected themselves together, creating a circular crystal orb. Strangely, she didn't hit the bottom of it. Instead, it was like her body defied gravity as she remained floating in the sphere. "Hey! What is this!?" She tried reaching over to bang on the inside, but it was too far from her reach. The sphere slowly started its journey to the ground.

Toshiro stared at the recovered hollow. Truthfully, he almost forgot about it. "Yo," he said, giving a little half-wave and a cocky grin.

It only roared loudly in return and once again attacked him.

Toshiro sighed and simply made a wide side-step. The hollow flew past him, scraping its fingers against the ground to stop its momentum. It didn't have a chance to stop, however, when Toshiro jumped, did a showy front-flip (AN: -cough- Show-off –cough-), and with his right leg, kicked the hollow so hard, using his momentum, on the back that he actually heard the bones break. The hollow roared in agony but immediately could say no more once Toshiro appeared upside-down in front of its face, drew back his fist, and punched its face- all the way through its mask and deeper. He ripped his arm out from the Hollow and used that hand to push off the ground so he could flip back on his feet. His back was to the hollow so he didn't watch the Hollow dissipate into thin air. He turned to the awe-struck Amu, who was now neatly on the ground but still inside the sphere, and, once more, flashed a grin. Inwardly, Toshiro noted to himself that he would have to massage his jaw once he turned back… and kill the person guilty for his change. But first, he had to find out why his strength, after the change, increased to about the strength of a seated or lieutenant officer who is an expert in hakuda while he was in his _faux body_.

The ice-crystal orb Amu was in irradiated brightly and darted towards Toshiro in rays of blue light. Once it reached him, the beams gathered together on the necklace and solidified, once again showing a miniature ice-crystal that radiated brightly.

Amu watched as the necklace disappeared with a popping sound and a sparkling exit. The white-haired youth immediately dropped the grin and his hand, and stared wide-eyed at nothing in particular. She couldn't blame him. She, herself, was still shocked over what she experienced. The white-haired transfer shook himself out of his trance, a deeper scowl returning to his features, and turned his attention towards Amu. As he walked towards her, she gulped, dreading what was to come. She watched as he stopped in front of her, still staying silent. She opened her mouth to say something, but before she could do that, he whipped something out of his pocket and sprayed it on her face. She thought no more as she once again fell into unconsciousness.

Toshiro caught the girl before she fell face-flat on the ground. He cursed inwardly about how fatigued he suddenly became, as he had a little difficulty bringing her to the side of the park and leaving her leaning against the fence. He searched the grounds until he found his Gikogan. Staring at it, he once again pondered over what happened. Why wasn't he able to control himself? How did it happen?

"_It was because of me!_" A small voice echoed in his mind.

He widened his eyes, and finally able to sense reiatsu, he located the source. Looking up, he saw a tiny figure floating a few feet above him, but it was too dark to see clearly. "What?" he questioned, furrowing his eyebrows. "Never mind. What exactly _are_ you?"

The small figure dropped out of the sky and stopped right in front of his face. Out of caution, Toshiro took a step back and readied himself, but immediately froze once he saw the features of the tiny flier. He widened his eyes. "Y-you are," he breathed out.

The figure, or should he say _Guardian Character_, flapped its ice wings once as it finally registered to Toshiro of what he really was. His guardian character grinned. "Nice to finally meet you face-to-face, Capitan!"

**To be continued…**

**I AM SO SORRY FOR THE LATE UPDATE! I almost lost my inspiration half-way in + I was a bit busy working on my other new story, "Altered Transformation". And hey, if you want to read that story about Toshiro and Ichigo being transported to the Pokemon world, knock yourselves out~! XD But anyways, so yeah, I am super-duper sorry for not updating as quickly and I'm so sorry for making everyone wait! It took a lot out of me to actually do this chapter. DX It was extremely taxing, having to make it not so over-dramatic, but I still think I made it a bit like that. Toshiro's so OOC in this one, don't you agree? But this was practically only because of his character transformation. So, yeah! I'll try my best to continue typing and typing because the people who are responding to my story are most inspiring! Thank you to all my reviewers! You've saved us all! :D **

'**Till next time~! Jaa Ne~!**

**-ShiraChan-Desu**


	6. King vs Cocky- Chara Change Showdown!

**Hellooo~ to everyone! First of all, I would to extremely thank my faithful reviewers who have inspired me to up and beyond! … and made me laugh to the point where if I didn't hold it in, my whole family would have yelled at me to be quiet! XD And I'm serious! Thank you all for your encouragement and suggestions! I can't wait to hear your future feedback! **

**Answers to Reviews:**

**Bl: Thank you for the compliment on my story! And yes, the name IS going to be quite similar to Ryu, but not exactly. I pretty much just copied a specific _someone's _name from Bleach, though he doesn't show up very often. But I personally think the name fits! XD But anyways (I added the s on purpose) thank you so much for the review!**

**Needstowork: Thank you SO much for your review! I really enjoy writing these chapters, though sometimes I get frustrated and paranoid that I didn't write enough. I'll try my best to improve as we go on! Also, thank you for your seconding a suggestion! It helped me change my mind and actually really think about it! So thank you for the awesome review! I hope I'll hear from you again soon! X)**

**Lazyslacker: I am so glad that you enjoy my story so much! Thank you for lifting my spirits! Eheh. I thought that chapter wasn't too shabby, but I think I could've done better…maybe. XD Yeah, I didn't really think that Toshiro really wants to act childish in the inside, though many of the stories about him being childish are great! –laugh- and you aren't the only one who thinks that he was kind of like Shunsui. I didn't even think about that until you pointed it out! :D But anyways, thank you for finally bringing me out of the dark about Momo's inner self. I seriously think that her being stronger fits her perfectly. But I thought that she wouldn't really want to fully support Toshiro and the others. I mean like, she pretty much tried to attack them while ignoring their reasoning, you know? I'm not speaking ill about her or anything though. I still think she's pretty awesome. But thank you for your awesome review and suggestions! ^o^**

**Ice Night: Thank you soooooo much and you're welcome~! But I'm sorry it took so long. I spent a long time to do it, but it wasn't even over ten pages! I'm gonna die when that comes! XD But anyways, thank you for your awesome review!**

**Riley Lupin-Black: XD Sorry to burst your bubble, but I was just doing it from the most recent review to the oldest reviews. But I guess you could always think that way when you're the most recent reviewer! X) Thank you so much for your words and mini-stories! They seriously made me crack up…a lot. LOVE your reviews! Hope to hear your side-stories and reviews again soon!**

**LunaAsh: Thank you so much! I always worried about how my stories were and what the readers thought about it, but now I finally know! Again, thank you so much! I also thought that there shouldn't really be pairs in this story. Doesn't feel right at all, I guess. But thanks for that comment~! And thanks so much for your encouragement and suggestions! Many of your suggestions just made me crack up at the thought of it, so I'll DEFINITELY add those to the stories. –giggles evilly- Beware Toshiro… Beware….**

**Chapter 6**

"They should be coming here by now," Tadase said, knowingly, to Nadeshiko who nodded with an amused smile.

"Who is?" Amu asked, telling Yaya to pause with her antics by holding up her hand.

"'Cool and Icy'-Kun!" Yaya cheered.

"Why am I always left out?" Amu muttered with a sweat-drop. She suddenly realized something was missing, so she looked around, noticing that a certain Jack was nowhere to be found. "Where's Kukai?"

"Currently bringing Hitsugaya-kun here forcefully," Nadeshiko closed her eyes and drank her tea nonchalantly.

Amu stared. "Come again?"

"We knew that Hitsugaya-kun wouldn't want to come here if he was invited, so we asked Kukai to bring him here," Tadase said with a smile, as if he didn't cause someone's doom.

_So cruel_, Amu thought (AN: Not literally, right Amu? XD)

Just then, they felt the ground shake, the signal that someone was coming towards them at a hysterical speed.

"They're here!" Yaya exclaimed in delight.

"Kukai's really doing his best to drag Toshiro-kun here, isn't he?" Amu mused out loud.

"But something feels different," Nadeshiko observed.

"Different?" Tadase asked, turning questioningly towards Nadeshiko.

His question was answered when the door of the Royal Garden banged open and in came a blur of white and brown.

"Looks like our plan was turned the other way around," Tadase laughed quietly.

_Flashback_

Toshiro walked halfway down the path in front of the school, already twitching in annoyance. Ever since _that_ night, when his Guardian Character was discovered, that small 'fairy' has been constantly trying to talk to him so that he could open up. Personally, Toshiro liked him better when he was still inside of him. The guardians have finally left him alone, but he knew it wasn't the end. The hollows have mysteriously subsided the past few days, and Matsumoto came back. He was somewhat pleased to find that while she was out, she managed to kill off many rampaging hollows while sending Plus Spirits to Soul Society, but only _after_ he gave her a piece of his mind. All that was left was his mini-me- his _extremely maddening_ mini-me.

Said guardian flew in front of his face, waving his hand. "Hello~? Is anyone there?" he asked. When he didn't get an answer, he then knocked his fist on Toshiro's temple. "Yo, brain! You okay? Hello? … Heeello? … OH MY GOD, SOMEONE HELP! HE'S NOT RESPONDING!"

Remembering that he couldn't lash out on the offender without looking like he was mental, he inwardly cursed fate that he got _this_ guardian character out of many others.

His guardian character suddenly stopped and stared off into the distance. That was the only warning he got before it shot into his school bag. He would've been startled if he hadn't already known that his guardian character only did that when a guardian was nearby, which he had just found out a few days ago.

Toshiro looked over to an incoming reiatsu signature- a very familiar reiatsu. Oh grea-. He didn't get to finish his thought. A shape shot by him, but before it could fully pass Toshiro, it stuck a hand out and grabbed his arm, pulling him along with it.

Students and teachers alike were surprised when a two-figured blur weaved passed them, causing a gust of wind in its wake. If some students had keen eyes, they would've been able to make out the first shape as an over-excited guardian pulling along the second figure like a rag doll without letting it touch the ground.

After his brain quickly caught up to the situation at hand, Toshiro started trying to jerk out of the practically hyperactive Soma's grasp. "Soma, let go of me this instant!" Toshiro tried yelling over the wind caused by said boy.

It was hard to hear, but his voice still managed to reach Kukai's ears. With a huge grin plastered on his face, he didn't even bother to turn his head towards his hostage. "No can do, Toshiro!" he answered back. "Unless you've gotten weak after avoiding us for days, you should be able to get out by yourself!" Having too much fun, he didn't notice when Toshiro suddenly went limp. Nor did he notice the necklace that made its appearance onto his neck once more. No, he only noticed when the weight he was dragging suddenly got heavier, and in a blink of an eye, he was staring back at the direction they just came from, trees and students flashing past him in blurs with his whole body being dragged through the air by a hand on his Royal Cape's collar. Feeling the adrenaline from going too fast and forgetting a specific important fact, he grinned and actually whooped. Soon, however, his surroundings started to speed up, causing him to feel a bit nauseous. Just when he remembered that he didn't know who was pulling him, an almost maniacal laugh answered his question.

With huge effort, he managed to look over his shoulder, seeing a tuft of white hair and a face unnaturally adorned with a huge, beaming smile.

His expression turned into thunderstruck. "TOSHIRO?!" Kukai exclaimed.

His response was an almost self-satisfied laugh from said transformed boy. "I COULD GO EVEN FASTER THAN YOU!" he yelled out.

He sped up, Kukai yelling along the way until he felt like he was going to black out. Tears comically flowed down his face in streams as he wondered what the heck was going on.

_Flashback Ends_

The white and brown blur screeched to a complete stop in front of the platform, showing a strangely pleased and exhilarated Hitsugaya with a half-dead Kukai in one hand. Hitsugaya pumped his fist in the air with a flashy grin. "I WIN!" He yelled in a victorious voice. "HAHA! YOU LOST SOMA-." He stopped when he finally saw the state said boy was in. "Soma-kun? Soma-kun?" He shook the limp boy. Unable to get a response, he turned slightly panicky. "Oy. Wake up! This is not funny! Cut it out!"

Meanwhile, the guardians all stared in shock at the uncharacteristic behavior the usually calm white-haired youth is showing. Nadeshiko, Tadase, and Yaya all broke out of their stupor first. "Ano, Hitsugaya-kun, I think you should let us help," Tadase said, walking up to the pair. Least to say, he was surprised when Hitsugaya shot a suspicious look at him, and protectively turned Kukai away from public viewing.

"No," he stubbornly said in a protective manner.

"Hitsugaya-kun," Tadase pleaded, sweat-dropping at the defensive behavior.

"No."

A strange sound erupted from behind him, so Tadase looked back at the watching Guardians. Before he could look completely, a hazy, red figure darted past him. He noticed that Amu had recovered and Nadeshiko was smiling good-naturedly. That meant…

Tadase looked back and came upon an amusing sight. Kukai, fully awake and alert, was being pulled back and forth between two bantering Toshiro and Yaya.

"No! He's not yours!" Toshiro was yelling.

"He's mine! He's mine!" Yaya was also yelling.

"HELP ME!" Kukai started yelling.

Amu and Nadeshiko started laughing in the background and Tadase started smiling in sympathy for Kukai.

This was extremely a sight to behold.

~XoX~

After many minutes of shouting and screaming, the necklace (the Guardians noticed it a small while before), disappeared, and Toshiro was back to his old self. He dropped the Kukai's arm that he was holding, causing Yaya and Kukai to fall at the sudden loss of weight. A few moments passed as he remembered what he had just done unwillingly. Suddenly, he scowled fiercely, stalking angrily towards his fallen bag on the ground.

As if sensing the incoming danger, a certain occupant inside the bag started trying to move its protection along with him away, though it was a complete fail.

"Is that…" Nadeshiko realized.

Sure enough, Toshiro grabbed his bag, stuffed his hand inside (a barely audible yelp emitting from inside the bag), and pulled out a struggling and scared wit-less Guardian Character. "_Ryuken_," Toshiro growled out menacingly, revealing the Guardian Character's name (AN: Heh, so yeah, I stole Ishida's father's name because it seemed pretty good. Though their personalities are so different.)

"Y-yes?" Ryuken tentatively squeaked out.

"If you do that again-," he started, but was interrupted by the 'person' he was scolding.

"I didn't do it," he said. Seeing Toshiro's puzzlement, he explained with a little more confidence. "_You_ did it yourself."

It was evident that he was still in the dark.

"Like…Tadase-kun?" Yaya cogitated out loud, her pointer finger on her lip and her eyes looking upwards in a thoughtful expression.

Both look-alikes turned their attention questioningly towards the guardians. Noticing this, Nadeshiko explained. "When anyone says a certain word in Hotori-kun's presence, he undergoes something we call a 'Character Change'," she said, smiling when said King looked a little sheepish. "It doesn't happen to everyone, though."

Toshiro stored this information in his mind. If it was completely automatic… he suddenly felt a sense of foreboding washing over him. He could act that way _anytime_. If Ryuken follows him to Soul Society, he'll be doomed.

"There has to be a word that triggers the Character Change…" Tadase trailed off, everyone looked at Kukai who raised his hands in a 'stop' gesture, closing his eyes as he thought back.

"Let's see, when I snatched him," Kukai started, earning a glare from said victim.

Realization soon dawned upon Toshiro about what exactly they were doing. "Don't say it!" he commanded more than protested.

If Kukai heard him, he didn't give any indication that he did so. "I said that he was avoiding us for days," he continued.

Knowing that yelling at Soma would get him nowhere, Toshiro took disgruntled steps towards him, but was stopped by Hotori and Nadeshiko blocking his path. "Fujisake, Hotori, move aside," Toshiro said in a calm voice that hid his inner irritation.

Tadase shook his head. "We're sorry, Hitsugaya-kun, but we _have _to know," he tried to reason. He knew he failed when he was shot an extremely pissed-off glower.

"I said that he should be able to get out by himself," Kukai continued, watching Toshiro for any signs of changing.

"No, you don't," Toshiro grounded out. "And I would very much appreciate it if I could remain the same."

"If you really want to remain the same, then Ryuken wouldn't be here, would he?" Nadeshiko pointed out.

"Remember, if you don't believe in your Guardian Characters, then we will disappear," Kiseki reminded, floating next to Toshiro.

Toshiro turned his head sharply towards Kiseki, seeing, for the first time, a different Guardian Character than his own.

Tadase smiled. "Right, we almost forgot to introduce _our _guardians," he said while Kiseki moved above his shoulder.

The mini-Tadase crossed his arms in an authority manner. "I am Kiseki, Tadase's Guardian Character, and the King of all Guardian Characters," he stated, closing his eyes with a proud frown. Expecting the attention to still be on him, he opened his eyes, but instead, Toshiro's attention was focused on all the Guardian Characters gathered all around him. No one noticed when her started yelling at them for taking the attention away from him.

"I am Temari, Nadeshiko's Guardian Character," Temari said simply.

"Pepe, here~! Yaya's Guardian Character, desu~!" Pepe yelled cheerfully through the pacifier.

"There was one last one, but I can't remember," Kukai muttered in the background, already forgotten.

"I'm Ran; this is Miki, and Su! We are Guardian Characters of Amu-chan!" Ran said, pointing at each person in turn when she said their name.

"I'm Daichi, Kukai's Guardian Character," Daichi said with a grin and a thumbs-up.

"I am Ryuken, Toshiro's Guardian Character," Ryuken stated, making himself known as he was _still_ stuck in said person's grasp a few feet below the other Guardian Characters.

"Hi Ryuken! What were you born of?" Ran asked, floating down to his level.

"I -," Ryuken was about to answer, but was interrupted by Kukai yelling loudly.

"I got it!" he yelled excitedly towards the Guardians and Guardian Characters.

Toshiro blanched and cursed inwardly. He forgot his main objective! Looking at the other Guardians smiling 'innocently', he knew that it was their plan all along.

"Weak! His word is 'weak'!" Kukai explained.

'Weak' echoed throughout Toshiro's brain. Just then, the necklace appeared, causing him to lose complete control over his own body. "WHAT?!" he yelled out incredulously. He was sure his throat was going to be sore by the end of the day. "Look here, boy, I am much stronger than you think!" he exclaimed, pointing at Kukai.

Kukai looked like he was in a state of shock as he cocked his head to the side with a dumbfounded expression on his face, once again. "Boy? Hold on, I am one grade above you, so I am older!"

"So Hitsugaya-kun's word is 'weak', right?" Amu spoke for the first time.

Tadase nodded. "That's what it seems," he confirmed. He walked up to the changed Toshiro, clearing his throat when Toshiro didn't notice him. "Hitsugaya-kun," Tadase said, trying to get his attention.

Said Shinigami stopped and lazily turned his head towards his confronter. He stared so emotionlessly that Tadase almost thought that he was back to his old self if it wasn't for the necklace. "What?" he asked, eying Tadase. "Who are you supposed to be? The prince of the family?"

All guardians froze and stared at Tadase. _Not again_, Amu thought with a sweat-drop.

"Prince?" Tadase repeated, just before his signature crown appeared on top of his head. His face shadowed with darkness and fire practically burning around him, he smirked evilly. "You dare call me a prince, you _peasant?!_" he yelled, pointing at Toshiro with fire burning in his eyes. "You _dare_ call _me_ such a low title?! You will pay for your insolence when I will rule you all- starting with _you!"_

Toshiro stopped to think about this sudden change for a second. And then… "What?!" he shouted out. "You have _no right_!" He banged his head against Tadase, snarling fiercely.

"I _have _the right! I am King, and not even _you_ can do anything about it!" He pushed forward, causing Toshiro to move his upper torso backwards.

"I can and I _will_ do something about it! I'll shield them from your wicked wills; I'll defeat you myself if I have to!" Toshiro responded with a strong push, causing Tadase to also move himself backwards, though more than Toshiro had to. Sparks flew in a straight line between the pair's eyes. "Just you wait! We'll see who the low-life is when that's over!"

And so, the all-out verbal war began- neither side willing to allow the other to have the dominant win. As of yet, none of the Guardians or their would-be selves has succeeded in breaking up the quarrel between the challenge-driven males. As a result, Nadeshiko, Amu, and Yaya have already begun drinking their second serving of tea elegantly. Most of their guardian characters joined them with their own mini-cups while the rest watched the ever-lasting dispute wearily. Kukai continued to stand with his hands on his hips and watched with amusement clearly written across his face. "They will never give up, will they?" Kukai jokingly said to no-one. He was surprised when someone answered.

"Toshiro-kun won't," a voice answered over his shoulder, startling Kukai.

Kukai turned his head, seeing Toshiro's Guardian Character. "Why's that?" he asked, curiously.

"I was born from Toshiro-kun's wish to be strong enough to protect the people he cares about," he revealed to Kukai.

Kukai blinked in surprise, but soon turned back to the still quarrelling students. _It fits him perfectly_, he thought. _His wish isn't selfish. He just wants to keep his friends away from danger._ He stared at said boy who was currently shouting about locking Tadase away in a closet after throwing away the key.

"He will never give up until he knows that his friends and family are safe and free," Ryuken continued.

"Not even if he breaks all his bones?"

"Not even."

Kukai absorbed it all in. "I see," he said, sincerely. He continued to watch, even as Toshiro grabbed Tadase by the front of his cape and started shaking him, violently, but at the same time, not harmfully. He smiled.

_He truly is one of a kind._

(AN: At least to the humans since they don't know about many other Soul Reapers)

~XoX~

"Let me go!"

"Not until you agree that you won't try to control them!"

"I will never!"

"Fine, it's your funeral."

"I- what?"

"I said nothing."

"You said something."

"I said nothing."

"You _said_ something."

"I said nothing, idiot."

"Fine then… wait a minute. WHAT?! GET OVER HERE SO I COULD KILL YOU!"

"I prefer my last moments to be at peace, thank you very much."

"Oh you stupid-."

Amu glanced wearily at the time. "It's almost dark and they still haven't stopped arguing!" She exclaimed, exasperated. She looked back at the two _still_ arguing males. Well, at least one had finally calmed down… sort of.

Toshiro sat on the platform, contentedly drinking tea while calmly replying to Tadase's responses, no matter how rude they may be. Tadase is a bit way over the head. Literally. He was magically hanging upside down, about a half a foot above their heads, tied to the pillar with a rope that appeared out of nowhere. Honestly, none of the guardians paid attention long enough to find out how he got up there-although it was pretty amusing to watch.

"Ne, Nadeshiko," Amu said distractedly.

Said guardian turned towards her. "What is it?" she asked.

"Shouldn't their transformation be over already?

Nadeshiko blinked as she realized this. "You're right," she said in wonder, turning back and looking at Toshiro (who was still talking and drinking tea). She continued to eye him thoughtfully for a a few short moments before she spoke. "It may be because of Hitsugaya-kun."

"Toshiro-kun?" Amu asked, finally tearing her gaze off of the tied up Tadase to stare at Nadeshiko in confusion. "Why?"

She smiled. "I don't know for sure, but it seems like Hitsugaya-kun's character change affects the changes of people around him," she theorized. "Remember- all of our character changes last for less than an hour, but Hotori-kun's and Hitsugaya-kun's has lasted for several hours. Also," she paused to look at a very noticeable crack in the floor. "Hotori-kun's strength has increased to the point where he could crack the pavement."

"Eh?" Amu cocked her head. "Nadeshiko, I thought Toshiro-kun did that!"

Nadeshiko shook her head. "Iie, it was Hotori-kun," she said. She looked at Amu straight in the eye. "Hinamori-chan, if _this_ is how strong Hotori-kun is in his Character Change, do you know how strong we would be if we were in a Character Transformation?"

Amu contemplated this for a few seconds before she realized it. "Stronger?" she cogitated out loud in amazement. She stared at Nadeshiko. "If Toshiro is in a Character Change, we will become stronger?"

Nadeshiko looked back at the crack in the pavement. She nodded.

Little did they know a certain blue-haired teenager with cat ears and a tail had listened in on their little conversation hidden a few feet away.

"Stronger… was it," he said in a low voice. He looked sideways at the indifferent Toshiro. "I found you."

**To be continued…**

**Dun, dun, duuuuun~! Well, there you have it folks! I believe it's not what you exactly wanted for the Toshiro and Tadase Character Change Showdown, but I hope it'll do. Also, Easter Company is now about ready to go after Toshiro, so you better be ready Toshiro because here they come! Also, thank you for everyone who reviewed to this story! I really enjoy reading every single review! Our internet is pretty much back to normal so that's why I replaced the AN chapter. Ok, I can't think of anything else to say, so thank you for reading and I hope you will read again soon- OH YEAH I almost forgot! Sorry that the chapter is pretty much shorter than the last one. Though it's kind of hard to guess with because the page(s) are pretty long, but it's only because there was a lot of spaces. ****I'm disappointed in myself, but I wanted to get this idea out. PLUS I wanted that cliff-hanger to be in there. AND I didn't want you guys to wait so long… even though it was only for a few days. XD So anyways, comments and suggestions are completely welcome! See you all next week!**

**Oh yes, and please review! That's NOT an order! X)**

**-ShiraChan-Desu**


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